Drummers have long sought a drumstick which can be used to practice and perfect their art with a minimum of unwanted noise and damage to struck surfaces while retaining the handling characteristics of drumsticks used in live performances. It is the objective of the present invention to provide a durable practice drumstick which significantly reduces noise and damage from practice drumming while maintaining the handling characteristics of performance drumsticks used in performances.
The current pool of choices to accomplish these four objectives falls into two major groups: Drumsticks designed with sound deadening and impact damage reducing material provided over a portion of the stick, and Drumsticks provided with inner cores covered by outer sheaths of high durability materials.
Published U.S. Patent application 20040244563 to Calato, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,001 to Amendola are typical of the partially covered genre of drumstick designs wherein the durability or noise characteristics are achieved through a partial covering of the exterior surface of the drumstick. This approach is inherently unable to accommodate the desire of drummers to use all areas of the drumstick to achieve various desired effects.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,237 to Grossman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,355 to Lipp, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,671 to Genna, are typical of the Genre of drumsticks made with cores and sheaths wherein the sheath material is selected to increase the durability of the drumstick. While this approach often enhances the durability of the drumstick is does little to reduce the noise produced during practice drumming or the damage resulting to practice surfaces.